July 25, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
St. James the Great Day (Christian calendar).
Pilgrimage of St. Anne d’Auray, France. 

On July 25, 1943, King Victor Emmanuel announced to Italy that he had accepted the “resignations” of Premier Benito Mussolini and his entire cabinet, leading to the end of Italy’s alliance with Nazi Germany in World War II.
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PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People enjoy the beach as they look at a forest fire in La Croix-Valmer, near Saint-Tropez in the French Riviera, on Tuesday. Firefighters battle blazes that have consumed swaths of land in southeastern France for a second day, with one inferno out of control near the chic resort of Saint-Tropez, emergency services say. VALERY HACHE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Women wearing traditional tailored Chinese dresses walk among the lotus flowers in Zepan Village, Xingtai, in north China’s Hebei Province. MU YU/ZUMA PRESS
Market Closes for July 25^th, 2017 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
9.1
The intraday low for the VIX on Tuesday morning, putting the index on pace for a new record for lowest-ever close. The current closing record is 9.31, set in 1993.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, propelled higher by energy shares as oil prices posted their biggest gain since November.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 74 points or 0.5 percent to close at 15,202.37. Energy stocks rose 1.4 percent, led by an 8.6 percent gain at Baytex Energy Corp. and a 7.6 percent rise at MEG Energy Corp. The price of West Texas Intermediate jumped 3.3 percent as Saudi Arabia pledged deeper cuts to its crude exports. 
     The materials index gained 0.7 percent as copper prices rose to a two-year high. Hudbay Minerals Inc. added 7.8 percent and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. rose 6.5 percent.
     In other moves:
* Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. jumped 14 percent, the biggest increase since 2000, after British Columbia Premier John Horgan indicated he doesn’t plan to push for a ban of U.S. coal shipments
* Cott Corp. gained 6.4 percent. Refresco Group NV is buying Cott’s soda business for $1.25 billion
* AGT Food & Ingredients Inc. rose 5.3 percent after PointNorth Capital Inc. disclosed a 9.75 percent stake in the food producer.
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — A bevy of corporate earnings pulled U.S. stocks to fresh records, while Treasuries tumbled the most in a month as the Federal Reserve began its policy meeting. Oil surged.
     Earnings from Caterpillar Inc. and McDonald’s Corp. led to outsize gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, while Alphabet Inc.’s disappointing results weighed on technology indexes. Banks advanced as sovereign debt yields rose, while a rally in copper aided miners. The euro touched the highest in almost two years after German business confidence data beat expectations. Saudi Arabia’s promise to further cut crude exports spurred the biggest rally in oil since November.
     Markets took a risk-on tone Tuesday as generally positive earnings and economic data bolstered confidence in the strength of the global economy. The data come as the Fed will weigh robust global growth against feeble inflation and mixed U.S.
economic data. Expectations are for policy makers to keep rates on hold; clues to the fate of its balance sheet will be key.
          Here are some key events coming up this week:
* Fed policy makers will deliver their rate decision on Wednesday.
* Donald Trump’s son and former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort will go before Senate committees on Wednesday.
* The U.S. economy probably gained traction in the second quarter as spending by American consumers picked up after a lull early this year. The gross domestic product report follows the two-day Fed policy meeting.
* Results from Facebook Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Nomura Holdings Inc., BNP Paribas SA and UBS Group AG are among those expected this week.

     Here are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 added 0.3 percent to close at a record 2,477.18 at 4 p.m. in New York.
* McDonald’s and Caterpillar added at least 5 percent to pace gains. Alphabet lost 3 percent.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 99.91 points to finish short of its record from July 19.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.5 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.3 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index increased 0.6 percent, the biggest jump in almost two weeks.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 0.3 percent, the largest dip in more than two weeks.

     Currencies
* The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.1656, and earlier touched the strongest in more than two years on a closing basis.
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2 percent.
* The Japanese yen fell 0.7 percent to 111.869 per dollar, the first retreat in more than a week.

     Commodities
* Gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,253.28 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude surged 3.3 percent to settle at $47.89 a barrel, the largest jump since November.
* Iron ore rose 2.2 percent to 521 yuan per metric ton.
* Copper posted its highest close in more than two years and shares in producers of the metal rallied. The metal for three- month delivery rose 3.3 percent to settle at $6,225 a metric ton in London.

     Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose seven basis points to 2.33 percent, the most in a month.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose six basis points to 0.566 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose seven basis points to 1.258 percent, the highest in more than a week.
* France’s 10-year yield rose seven basis points to 0.812 percent, the first advance in more than a week.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

The real ornament of a woman is her character, her purity.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,
 

Carolann

It takes a great man to be a good listener.
                  -Calvin Coolidge, 1872-1933

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com

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